Scientists attending the 101st Science Congress discuss technology solutions to lift farmers, livestock owners out of poverty
Jammu and Kashmir is one state where science can really make a
difference. A high 70 per cent of the population in the northern Indian
state depends on agriculture. The mountainous terrain makes life
difficult and most people are poor, but at the same time it has
resources which could lift people out of poverty.
For example, Ladakh is home to special varieties of apricot and
apples. But there is a ban on export of these from the area as these are
prone to diseases and could affect cultivation of apple and apricots in
other areas. Instead of finding ways to control the disease, people
have been stopped from making profits from these novel varieties.
One
way of helping local people in Kashmir improve their income
significantly would be sericulture. Sher-e-Kashmir Univeristy of
Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKAUST)-Jammu is helping train
people on sanitation techniques to improve the environment and silk
yield (Photos by Vibha Varshney)
Meetings such as the Indian Science Congress being held in Jammu this
year could be a platform for finding ways to improve the lot of people
in the state. Vice-chancellors and directors of different research
organisations in the state got together on day four of the meeting for
the Prof Ram Nath Chopra Symposium on science and technology imperatives
and opportunities for sustainable development of J&K. Tej Partap,
vice-chancellor of Sher-e-Kashmir Univeristy of Agricultural Sciences
and Technology (SKAUST)-Kashmir enumerated the problems in the area.
There is a shortage of water in the area, in case of horticulture, the
plantations are old and diseased, livestock breeds suitable for the area
are not available and there is a shortage of fodder. Of late, new
problems such as climate change and land use change are also creating
problems.
Some solutions and challenges
Experts gave solutions too. The silk industry in the area is a good
example. Silk cultivation came to India from China via Kashmir and the
area has centuries of history of producing silk. But most people who
maintain silk worms are poor and grow the silkworm only to add another
source of income. Cocoons need to be kept at a certain temperature to
increase yield but the farmer has no means to maintain temperature. At
best, the farmer keeps the cocoons in the kitchen or in the cattle shed.
Realising that two factors—regular availability of mulberry leaves and
the environment—contribute the most to the quality of silk, researchers
tried to find ways to improve this. Ajay Koul, director of research with
SKUAST- Jammu said the organisation is providing technical help to
people. For example, people are being trained on sanitation techniques
to improve the environment and increase yield. To what extent such
methods would help the farmer is another matter as the market is
controlled by cartels which control the price.
Technological interventions have also improved vegetable farming in the
region. Defence Institute of High Altitude Research in Leh has managed
to grow 101 different types of vegetables there compared to just the
handful that were grown earlier. Farmers can grow these vegetables round
the year using low cost solar green houses
There are others involved in finding suitable technology. Defence
Institute of High Altitude Research in Leh has worked towards increasing
the number of vegetables that grow in the area. The institute has
managed to grow 101 different types of vegetables there compared to just
the handful that were grown earlier. The institute even has a place in
the Limca book of records for increasing the number of vegetables which
the farmers can grow. Farmers can grow the vegetables round the year
using low cost solar green houses. Ram Vishwakarma, director of Indian
Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu suggested that the
perfume industry in the area could be bolstered. He said that the mentha
variety that grows in the area yields an oil which is much superior in
quality to the one that grows in the plains. The institute is
encouraging farmers to grow the variety.
N N Vohra, the governor of the state who chaired the session, too,
said that such discourses are of value for those involved in future of
the state.
'Go organic'
The question still remains how these solutions can be taken to the
people. Partap gave an example. His institute developed rice which is
resistant to blast disease. But these have not as yet reached the people
as the extension services are not working well. "To rectify the
problem, we decided to take the seeds to the farmers ourselves. We got
the people involved and there was participatory plant breeding and seed
production in the area. We made the people the custodians of the
variety," he said.
Partap says that the state should go organic which would mean that
everything—crops, vegetables and medicinal plants—would be organic and
fetch high price. But he says that the state has been dragging its feet
on this subject. There are lobbies which might be behind this inaction.
